Last week of the transfer!! Man it went by so fast! I can’t believe this week is transfers! So much has happened from being super sick to my ingrown toenail surgery to the screaming lady that keeps attacking random people and won’t leave the missionaries alone so now the elders that lived by the church are now in our house because another crazy experience happened with her and so they are here temporarily and possibly permanent until we figure out this crazy situation so yeah! Many crazy experiences but they have all brought me closer to my Savior Jesus Christ in ways only through the hard I’ve been able to become closer! He is truly our perfect Savior and gives us strength to endure through all the hard! 

Some highlights from the week:

I had my first split with Elder Hobbs and it was so amazing to meet their friends of the church! They were so sweet and being able to see their area was cool as well! Their house is right next to the ocean so you could hear the waves crashing and it was the best!

We had an amazing lesson with one of our friends Teaki Teng who accepted to be baptized and our next lesson we will be setting a date for him which is so amazing! It was such a spiritual lesson!

I learned how to make sushi at an activity we went to and it was so much fun! 

I gave my first talk in church in French and it was scary but I was able to have strength from the Lord and did it! The area authority was their too so that was crazy and also many of our friends of the church came! My companion spoke as well and it was super spiritual! Even though it was hard for me to pronounce everything the spirit was able to be felt and it was an amazing experience. 

My toe is continuing to get better each day and I’m actually able to walk now without a limp! 

We had a Soirée Familiale with our friends of the church Alexandre and Hitimahana and it was so amazing to be with them and continue to teach and answer their questions about the church and we played a game with them and it was very fun! Also Hitimahana made my companion, Kaia Colombel, and me a bracelet for us that all match and it is so cool! It’s a Tiger’s eye bead that is for courage and to help us be strong as she says! It was such a sweet gift and they are such an amazing family!

I was feeling pretty homesick this week and it was kinda hard but I had such an amazing experience where I was doing my personal study and everything I was studying was answering my questions and just making me feel better and it was such an amazing experience! I felt Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ’s love for me and it was just an amazing study and just helped me get through the rest of the week!

That’s about it! I know this is a lot smaller email this week but it was a great week and getting ready to start my 2nd transfer here! So grateful for all of you and miss you like crazy! Also so grateful for my family each and every week especially my parents and for their amazing support and help when I may doubt they always help me turn to my Savior and are the BESTEST PARENTS IN THE WHOLE WORLD!!! I am so grateful for this Gospel and for being able to grow my testimony each and every day in ways I can’t even put into words! I am also so grateful for the Plan of Salvation and for that perfect plan from Heavenly Father and through Jesus Christ it is perfect and I am so grateful I will be with my family for all time and eternity! Talk to y’all next week!! Beaucoup d’amour! Ua here au ia outou!💙

-Elder LeBaron

What a week!!! It started with my toe not feeling well and it was starting to get Infected from an ingrown toenail I have that I didn’t take care of! So it started to get worse and worse and then last P-day I showed my family and they said you should see a doctor so I went to the doctor on Thursday and he said come in the next day and I will do surgery on it! I was like I’m going to die! How has it been a few weeks of being here and I just started to feel better from being sick and now I have to get surgery on my toe! So I reached out to Sœur Tuahu and we made plans to go at 9am on Friday! It was in some sketchy building and I was terrified but I had said so many prayers before and had so much peace and felt my Grandpa and Great-Grandma with me! I then got the shots to numb my toe which hurt so bad and then I couldn’t feel anything which I was praying it would not hurt since it took awhile to numb my toe! Then as he was cutting out the ingrown toenail he was like do you want music and I was like YES! And so here I am singing to I Can Do All Things With Christ from the youth album while he is doing surgery on my tie! Looking back on it, it was the funniest thing! But I did it and now my toe is healing! I felt Jesus Christ with me the whole time and had to rely on Him more than ever before to feel comfort and not alone as I couldn’t speak French to the doctor and it being the beginning of my mission! Though it was so difficult and I literally wanted to cry but through Jesus Christ I was able to feel as Doctrine & Covenants 24:12 says, “Strength such as is not known among men” and I felt that in this moment! It was incredible! A moment I will never forget and though it was very hard to go through I didn’t do it alone! 

Other highlights for the week:

-We had an incredible lesson with this man whose wife would never come to the lesson but did this time and she did and we were teaching about the plan of salvation and it was amazing that his whole family was there listening when the family is central to the plan of salvation! The spirit was so strong and it was just an amazing experience with them!

-Since I had the surgery on my toe we got a car that we got from the other Elders in our zone and it was a miracle because we were able to go to this lesson with the Sœur’s in our district that we wouldn’t have been able to without the car to help this woman and it was amazing because if we didn’t have the car we wouldn’t have been able to and it was great!

-A French study we had on Thursday at the Colombel family’s house and it was amazing because I got so much help from Sœur Colombel and the other missionaries to help my French more and to continue to push myself to speak more and know what to say in certain situations! We also then ate yummy crepes for lunch after it was over! It was amazing! 

That’s about it for this week! But it was super crazy but full of amazing experiences to help me grow stronger in Jesus Christ and trust Him in everything I do and to keep being positive always and focus on Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father’s plan for me and everything always works out in the end! Till next week!! Beaucoup d’amour! Ua here au ia outou!

-Elder LeBaron

Very VERY crazy week this week!😳 I don’t even know where to start! Let’s just say 2024 so far has been filled with wonderful blessing and opportunities for me to grow closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Chirst more so than ever before and truly have to rely on them in these hard moments! 

Monday right before P-Day was going to end this crazy lady came out screaming at my companion and it wasn’t good and we had to get President Colombel come and help us stop her from trying to attack us and it was not good! We locked ourselves in a classroom since we were at the church building and waited for him to get her and then we all left! It was quite chaotic! Then we had to call President Tuahu after and explain everything to him and then he said to go to the police the next day to file a report so a great way to start 2024!

Tuesday we then went to the police station and filed a report but they couldn’t do anything since she didn’t actually touch him just was threatening my companion so we waited like 2 hours and they did absolutely nothing! It was crazy! And we also had to do our shopping this day because all the stores were closed for New Years on Monday! So I got Trix cereal which was nice and it was a much better experience than the last time! But something that’s funny is we have gotten lunch every single day this week and I haven’t been able to eat any of the food I bought so yeah🙃😂 

Wednesday I got into a bike accident since I was trying to get out of a car’s way and completely biffed it and really hurt my ankle but hey I’m still alive! Though it brought back some PTSD from the bike accident I had like 2 and a half ish years ago when I was on the Hiawatha trail with my brothers and crashed and got 7 stitches in my hand! But I was able to feel better and I was able to eat pizza that night for dinner and it was so good! And we went to the Colombel’s family for dinner! We also had 4 lessons that day in the pouring rain but it was so great I was able to like the quote says “When storms come your way learn to dance in the rain!” and so I did and was happy to be biking in the rain until you know the bike crash😅😂 

Thursday we had in the morning language study with Sœur Harryman and Sœur Lallemant after our personal studies and it was great having some extra help to learn French and since we couldn’t do it with Sœur Colombel we were able to it together still without her. Then when we were leaving my companion had the thought to do a port à port which is contacting and as we were going he had a thought to go this one way and these random 2 guys were walking and stopped us and asked if we could meet with them and so we got their contact and then they left and it was an absolutely amazing miracle! It’s amazing how you feel prompted to one thing which just makes you go and then God puts people in your path that you would never find unless you just go and trust! Then our Faatamaraa canceled for the night but the Tetoka family, who are the 3 boys who got baptized on Christmas, invited us to eat with them after our lesson and it was another amazing miracle! Then I helped them plan their trip to Utah and helped them know what fun things to do and to also try and meet up with my family because that would be incredible if they could meet my family! So we’ll see! But it was a great day!

Friday I woke up feeling a little sick and took some Exhedrine and then went on with the day. Well during our district council I still wasn’t feeling good but just thought I was tried and nothing was wrong. We get to about 5pm and I’m feeling horrible with body aches and felt like I had a fever and so I tested and sure enough it was 102.9⁰F and I was like this isn’t good! We called President and Sœur Tuahu and they said take some medicine and go to the doctor tomorrow and so I went to bed.

Saturday I woke up and got ready to go to the doctor and was freaking out praying I could go to a good doctor! And so we eneded up going to 3 different clinics and they were all closed so we had to go to Papeete which is like an hour in a half to two hours away! But I was feeling not good! So we went and it was actually in Faa’a which is right next to Papeete and when we got there we got checked in and I got taken back and I was so scared because I don’t speak great French and luckily they let Elder Adams come back with me to translate for me and they did a Dangy Fever test and that was about it and then got a list of medicines for me and said i had the Flu. I was like I know this isn’t the Flu and it feels like Strep that because I had like white dots on my throat in the back and it hurts so bad but nope they didn’t test me for it. Then I went to the pharmacy and got all the medicine and it was very funny to hear all the French people try and speak English to me because it just sounded like they were speaking French or English that doesn’t forget sense and so I just nodded my head and continued with the day! It was absolutely crazy! Then luckily we went to this incredible place foe lunch called Poké Bar and it was a Sushi Burrito with a Tortilla and then filled with Poke! It was so good and it was right by the ocean! It was very incredible and much needed for me! Then we went home and I slept for the rest of the night!

Sunday just stayed at home all day and wasn’t able to go to church because President didn’t want me to get anyone in the ward sick or our friends of the Church so I just rested all day! 

I know this was a long email but I figured y’all would want to hear all about this crazy chaotic week I had! It’s all good though! I have come to know that in these different moments to rely on my Savior and Heavenly Father to comfort me when I am so far away from home and in another country having to deal with these things! Also I am so grateful for modern day medicine in the US and I am just so grateful for the US! I am grateful for the eyes to see that I am so blessed to be from their and not take for granted the small things! Though I was terrified to face these challenges I wasn’t alone and Jesus Christ was with the the whole time walking hand in hand with me and the comfort from the Holy Ghost knowing that I would be ok! And I was and was able to make it though that! They are always there for me and for anyone who need help! You just need to Trust and have Faith that they will lead and guide and comfort you at all times! I am so grateful for this Gospel and for this experience to bring me closer to Them! They have me and will protect me always just trust and everything always works out in the end! That’s it for this week! Till next week! Love and miss y’all so much!! Beaucoup d’amour! Ua here au ia outou!💙

-Elder LeBaron

HAPPY NEW YEAR AND BONNE ANNÉE!! It’s crazy it’s already 2024! Where did 2023 go?! This week was a more of a struggle with feeling homesick and being reminded of traditions of what I would do around this time of year and it being the first time missing Christmas and New Years! But it’s helped me to focus of what really matters and not think of myself and things that don’t matter! So having that mindset can help to make the homesick feelings less and feel better! I need to focus every day on Jesus Christ and know that He will carry me through each and every week! Also some highlights for this week:

-We had a service project at this new friend’s house where we helped him plant plants for his farm and it was so hot outside but it was great helping him because he would’ve done it all by himself. The Colombel’s helped us as well and it was a big help!

-I got to invite 3 people that we are teaching right now to be baptized and it was a very amazing experience and the spirit was so strong and I could see their desire to want it but they want it as a goal and when they know more so we will continue to teach them and help answer their questions! 

-Sunday there was this American family that was visiting and I got to say hi to them and speak to them in English! It was such a blessing and they were so sweet! They were from New Mexico and just visiting. Their son had recently got back from his mission and so they came here. They were very kind and it was great to meet them! 

-Also we had a wonderful Faatamaraa on Sunday as well being New Year’s Eve with Poission Cru Coco I helped make, Chicken, Escargot, and even Dog/Puppy😂🥹😳 I died but it was fine I only ate a little bite and couldn’t eat anymore😂 But other than that it was great! They also had this really good drink called Fetia Exotic and it’s my favorite so far! It’s yellow and I’m not sure what it tastes like but it’s great!!

That’s about all I can remember for this week but it was great and I’ll try and do better with having my journal with me and being able to explain more of the week! Jesus Christ is the answer to help you with absolutely everything and there isn’t a thing he can’t help you with! I am so grateful for Him and all He has done for me and for Him walking hand in hand with me EVERYDAY!!! I love Him and I know He knows me and He never leaves! Beaucoup d’amour! Ua here au ia outou!💙

-Elder LeBaron

Joyeux Noël and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! This week went by so fast! It was filled with really amazing miracles! One being we had 3 baptisms today for Christmas, and it was so amazing to experience that within the first week of being here! They had so much light after they were baptized, and they were just so happy! It made me so grateful to be here for that experience! Other highlights for the week were:

Tuesday I think it was, we were biking in the rain and I was absolutely drenched but it was great! We got to our lesson and my companion asked her to be baptized after our lesson and she accepted and I didn’t understand what they were saying in the moment but my companion said after that he asked her to be baptized and she said yes! And I was like no way! I didn’t even know! It was super funny but I could feel the spirit so strong and now I know why! 

Wednesday was our Mission Christmas Conference! It was so amazing to see some of those in my old district and be able to meet many others in this mission! Also it was amazing to hear from President and Sœur Tuahu even though I couldn’t understand everything I understood what they said in English! Then after we played some games and then went back to our sectors! It was so fun and great to have that time with everyone!

Thursday we did language study with this amazing family the Colombel’s! They are incredible and have helped me so much! After we then ate crepes and it was so amazing to be with such a loving family! 

Friday we had a gift exchange with our district and it was so fun and we also did my first district council! It was great to set goals and discuss together how we can do better! We also ate Vini Vini which is this amazing fish place! It was a Papa’ina burger and it was this fried fish on bread with lettuce and an amazing vinaigrette! It was incredible!

Sunday was Christmas Eve and it was an amazing sacrament meeting and especially truly focusing on Jesus Christ this Christmas and how my life would not be the same without Him! It amazing and then we had a wonderful dinner with my companion’s aunt and uncle! We had Sashimi and Poisson Cru Coco! Also I ate my first Muscle and it was actually really good! 

That’s about it for this week! It was so great and it’s crazy it’s already Christmas! Every day gets a little bit better and every day I see my testimony grow and see the amazing miracles if I have the eyes to see them and see that Jesus Christ is always walking hand in hand with me each day and every second of every day! Also I have been trying to be more patient with myself and Thinking Celestial and know that I can only control my focus and make sure it is always on Jesus Christ and know that I am in His hands as His instrument! This isn’t about me and I need to forget myself and go to work each day! He is always the answer and I am so grateful for Him and couldn’t be here without Him!

I’m officially in Tahiti!! Wow it’s been crazy! It still feels like I’m in a dream every day I wake up! The first day of getting here was so crazy and I was so scared but excited! It was amazing to finally meet my mission President and his wife! They are so sweet and I already have so much love for them! After we meet them they gave us flowers and we went off to the church building. There they feed us pizza and we got to try Poisson Cru Chinois which is a famous dish here. It is kinda like ceviche but not with as much lime. It was so good! Though I almost threw up because it was very late at night and we ate raw fish! But it was great! Then we went off to our places to go to bed. It was a crazy night and then the next morning we got up and went to President’s house for breakfast and lunch. It was so fun and we got to understand more about the mission but it was very overwhelming and I was super tired so it didn’t help! Then we had lunch which was Poisson Cru Coco which is with coconut milk and lasagna. It was great! Then we got our assignments and meet our companions and went to our sectors/areas. I was very shocked the whole car ride to my area and also since my companion is a native but couldn’t speak really any English! So I was just like ok😂 But it was good! Then we got to our house and got all my bags situated and left here. I felt so alone but it was amazing to feel the strength and hand of God in helping me feel safe and ok. We then as a companionship went to this ward Christmas party and ate a bunch of food but I didn’t know what to get and got random stuff not knowing that I got all the same thing and it was not good! I was like I don’t want to be rude but I didn’t want to eat it but I just was forcing it down! There was also dog there as well that you could eat and I was like wow this is crazy! But good thing I didn’t eat it! Then we came back to our house and went to bed. 

The next day we went to another party in the morning for Christmas! It was crazy to have both of the parties! I was able to meet more people and it was great! There was this game they were playing and it was so cool! You throw these metal balls and have to get them close to this small ball and whoever gets the closest wins. Then we ate some food and I had what’s called fafaru I think is how it’s spelled but it’s fermented rotten fish heads in salt water and then they put fresh fish in it and let it sit! It was nasty! I almost threw up! I was like I’m going to die here😂 But yeah it was not good! Then we came home and I was able to help teach in my first lesson! It was scary but I felt such power and my fears go away when I just trusted that my mouth would be filled! And it has been! It’s been amazing to see! 

The next day was Sunday and I was able to take the sacrament and it was amazing to feel that power and comfort from being there even though I couldn’t understand everything! I also was able to participate in a recent member’s ordination of the priesthood and that was so cool! Then before we were going home a sister came and asked my companion and I if we could give her a blessing and we came to her and asked her who she would want to give her the blessing. Without hesitation she pointed to me and I was so scared since I can’t speak French since it was like my 2nd/3rd day there! But I just remembered where there is fear there is no faith and I just paused and trusted I would be ok. Then I was able to give her a blessing in French and it was incredible! I definitely wasn’t me and it was amazing to see the gift of tongues! 

Then Today I talked with my family and had a wonderful connection with them! Even though there has been hard days I have seen the hand of God in every one of them! I have had to trust in Him every day and He has given me the strength to do this! I just have to forget myself and go to work and find these beautiful children of God to come unto Christ and bring them this endless JOY that they can have forever! I love my family and so grateful for them and their love and support! They truly will never know how much they mean to me! Though the language barrier has been hard it’s little by little and I just need to continue to have patience with myself and trust in God’s plan and hand in my life!